ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
On August 27, Ashraf Omar El-Darir was sentenced to six months in jail for smuggling more than 600 Egyptian antiquities through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York without declaring them on customs forms. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner. El-Darir pleaded guilty to four counts of smuggling Egyptian antiquities in February 2025.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office described El-Darir as an “Active smuggler of ancient Egyptian antiquities,” and emphasized the importance of preserving heritage and protecting it from exploitation. An investigation found he transported more than 600 antiquities to the United States on flights from Cairo to JFK between April 2019 and January 2020. “On each flight in 2019, the Egyptian defendant brought one antiquity in his luggage; and in a flight in 2020, he brought about 590 antiquities in three checked bags,” stated a document submitted by federal defense attorneys Kanan Sundaram and Julian Harris Calvin.
El-Darir was arrested on January 22, 2020, after falsely declaring goods valued at $300 to U.S. Customs, according to The Travel. Officers found his suitcases wrapped in foam and bubble wrap. “Upon opening the packages, sand and dirt leaked from the containers, indicating that the antiquities had been recently excavated,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York in a press release.
“In each of the four times he smuggled antiquities into the United States, he used fake sources to sell them at American auction houses,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “The Egyptian doctor possessed a collection of materials used to create forged documents for the stolen pieces,” stated the press release. The fake sources included “multiple documents, including what appeared to be decades-old blank Egyptian pages, old Egyptian stamps, and multiple black-and-white photos that looked old, claiming to depict one of the defendant’s ancestors displaying many antiquities in his office long ago,” Asharq News reported. Forensic experts determined that the documents were forged and that the photos were altered with Photoshop to look old.
“Further investigation following El-Darir’s arrest at JFK Airport led to the recovery of additional illegally imported artifacts that have since been forfeited, along with the 590 artifacts seized at the time of El-Darir’s arrest,” said the U.S. Department of Justice. Court documents showed all items totaled approximately $82,000. The department shared photos of the haul online, and some items were sold for almost $4,000 each.
Among the items recovered were golden amulets from a funerary collection and wooden models of tombs with linen clothing, dating back to 1900 BCE; a multicolored inscription; a Roman limestone tablet later sold at auction for $1,000; an ancient Roman limestone head sold at auction for $1,300, and hundreds more ranging from jewelry to decor.
“The defendant looted Egyptian cultural treasures and lied to U.S. customs about them, as part of a web of deception he wove to fill his pockets with money illegally,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “Those who steal cultural treasures from other countries and smuggle them into the United States must know that they will be held accountable for their crimes,” said Williams. “We commend our partners at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their diligent work on this case, and we look forward to returning the recovered antiquities to Egypt,” said Williams.
El-Darir initially lied to U.S. customs when asked about the items, said Joseph Nocella Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Nocella described El-Darir’s actions as a “web of deception to fill his pockets with cash”.
